Babylon 5: Thirdspace (1998) (TV)

Director:

Jesús Salvador Treviño

Writers:

J. Michael Straczynski (creator)
J. Michael Straczynski (written by)

Release Date:

19 July 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Sci-Fi

Plot:

The crew of Babylon 5 discover an ancient artifact floating in hyperspace.

Plot Keywords:

Spacecraft | Alien | Telepathy | 23rd Century | Sequel

Cast

Bruce Boxleitner	...	Capt. John J. Sheridan
Claudia Christian	...	Susan Ivanova
Mira Furlan	...	Delenn
Richard Biggs	...	Stephen Franklin, M.D.
Jeff Conaway	...	Zack Allen
Stephen Furst	...	Vir Cotto
Patricia Tallman	...	Lyta Alexander
Clyde Kusatsu	...	Bill Morishi
Shari Belafonte	...	Elizabeth Trent
William Sanderson	...	Deuce
Kip King	...	Leo
Floyd Levine	...	Alex
Jeffrey Anderson-Gunter	...	Merchant
Joshua Cox	...	Lt. David Corwin
Judson Mills	...	Delta Seven
Adam G.	...	Guard (as G. Adam Gifford)
Jerry Kernion	...	Builder
Valerie Red-Horse	...	Technician
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Andrew Frankel	...	Starship mechanic (uncredited)
Mark Ginther	...	Security Guard #1 (uncredited)

Directed by
Jesús Salvador Treviño

Writing credits
J. Michael Straczynski		(creator)
J. Michael Straczynski		(written by)

Produced by
John Copeland	....	producer
Douglas Netter	....	executive producer
Susan Norkin	....	associate producer
J. Michael Straczynski	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Christopher Franke

Cinematography by
John C. Flinn III

Film Editing by
David W. Foster

Casting by
Fern Champion
Mark Paladini
Mary Jo Slater

Production Design by
John Iacovelli

Art Direction by
Mark Walters		(as Mark-Louis Walters)

Set Decoration by
Jason Howard

Costume Design by
Ann Bruice		(as Ann Bruice Aling)

Makeup Department
Manny Case	....	special makeup effects artist
Gabriel De Cunto	....	special makeup effects artist
Glen Eisner	....	makeup effects sculptor
Jeffrey S. Farley	....	makeup effects supervisor
Kim M. Ferry	....	hair stylist
Kim M. Ferry	....	makeup artist
Mark Garbarino	....	makeup effects supervisor
Jerry Gergely	....	special makeup effects artist
John Vulich	....	makeup effects creator
John Wheaton	....	makeup effects sculptor
Barbara Wilder	....	key hair stylist (as Barbara Wilder Pearlman)
Cinzia Zanetti	....	key makeup artist

Production Management
Skip Beaudine	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Ronald Chong	....	first assistant director (as Ronnie Chong)
Alisa Matlovsky	....	second second assistant director
David McWhirter	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Dark Hoffman	....	property master
Alan Kobayashi	....	graphic designer
Curtis Laseter	....	construction coordinator
Matthew W. Plummer	....	scenic artist
Wayne D. Barlowe	....	concept artist (uncredited)
Lilly Frank	....	paint foreman (uncredited)
Jerome Johnson	....	props (uncredited)
Garry McEvoy	....	painter (uncredited)

Sound Department
Larry Benjamin	....	sound re-recording mixer
Harry Cohen	....	sound designer
Elisabeth Flaum	....	sound effects editor
Don H. Matthews	....	sound mixer
Michael Payne	....	sound supervisor (as Mike Payne)
Zeke Salas	....	sound re-recording mixer
Ann Scibelli	....	sound effects editor
Liz Sroka	....	sound re-recording mixer
Jeffrey R. Whitcher	....	co-sound supervisor (as Jeff Whitcher)
Jeffrey R. Whitcher	....	sound effects editor (as Jeff Whitcher)

Special Effects by
Jaroslava Fernandez	....	special effects
Dayton Osmond	....	special effects supervisor
Alan McFarland	....	special effects electronics (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Timothy Albee	....	computer graphics animator (as Tim Albee)
Kim Anderson	....	compositor
Ken Busick	....	compositor
Tim Everitt	....	computer graphics animator
Tim Everitt	....	computer graphics designer
Phillip Giles	....	compositor
Tom Helmers	....	computer graphics animator
Tom Helmers	....	computer graphics designer
Harry Hendrickson	....	computer graphics animator
Harry Hendrickson	....	computer graphics designer
Rich Jeffreys III	....	computer graphics animator
Rich Jeffreys III	....	computer graphics designer
Jeff Montray	....	computer graphics animator
Jeff Montray	....	computer graphics designer
Don Neudecker	....	computer graphics animator
Don Neudecker	....	computer graphics designer
Josh Prikryl	....	computer graphics animator
Josh Prikryl	....	computer graphics designer

Stunts
Kerry Rossall	....	stunt coordinator
Jimmy Ortega	....	stunts (uncredited)
Steve Rizzo	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Robert Blair	....	key grip (as Robert D. Blair)
Peter B. Kowalski	....	camera operator
Charles Lantz	....	dolly grip (as Charles S. Lantz Jr.)
Chris Nagle	....	best boy grip
John Smith	....	gaffer
Wally Sweeterman	....	first assistant camera
Carlos M. Torres	....	best boy grip

Animation Department
Shant Jordan	....	senior animator
Patrick Perez	....	senior animator

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Kim M. Holly	....	costume supervisor
Linda Huse	....	key costumer

Editorial Department
Kathie Burr	....	first assistant editor
John Burrus	....	assistant editor
Pam Oseransky	....	post-production coordinator

Other crew
Timothy M. Earls	....	concept designer
Harlan Ellison	....	conceptual consultant
Heidi Erl	....	production coordinator
Tracie Esparza	....	assistant to executive producer
Kenneth Gilbert	....	script supervisor (as Ken Gilbert)
Jonathan Gording	....	special effect contact lens consultant
Karen Harrell	....	assistant to executive producer
Carol Henry	....	script coordinator
Joanne Higgins	....	assistant to executive producer
Mike Hoover	....	production accountant
Luc Mayrand	....	concept designer
Jeffrey Willerth	....	associate to producer
Celeste Healy	....	production coordinator (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Babylonian Productions
• Turner Network Television (TNT)

Distributors

• Audio Visual Enterprises (1999) (Greece) (VHS)
• Chum Television
• Turner Network Television (TNT)
• Warner Bros. (Germany)
• Warner Bros.
• Warner Home Video (2004) (Germany) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2004) (Netherlands) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Netter Digital Animation
• Optic Nerve Studios (make-up effects)
• Ultimate Effects

Other Companies

• Oberman, Tivoli & Miller  production accounting services
• Optic Nerve Studios  makeup effects

Also Known As:

"Thirdspace" - USA (short title)

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Germany:12 | Finland:S | Iceland:12 | Netherlands:6

Company:

Babylonian Productions

Trivia:

When they finished editing the movie for broadcast, the producers found out that they were actually a few minutes short so the elevator scene with Zack and Lyta was added.

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: When the IPX leader is looking at the various screens regarding the alien device, one of the displays has a misspelling: "EMF EMMISIONS" should be "EMF EMISSIONS"

Quotes:

[first lines]
Sheridan:[voiceover] It was the middle of the Earth year 2261. The year between wars and the beginning of a new age. The Shadow war was over, but there was still a darkness waiting for us at home...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Dead Space (2008) (VG)

Not perfect, but certainly an enjoyable scifi romp.

A reasonable outing.

B5 - and JMS writing in particular - works better when not contained to standalone episodes. Give him space to breathe, and his musing flows far better. He has room to comment, moralise and philosophise beautifully. Give him a single story and he tries to cram in too many explanations and plot movements which start to clog up the script. This is a pity as the script is what he is good at.

So a nice story, but a little uneven. Sometimes continually underlines the same plot points over and over killing room for nice stand alone dialogue or character exposition. Other times, the character scenes (the lift scene ) are too long an neither help the story or offer any depth for their duration.

That said, the SFX is very nice, the music from Franke is far more classically orientated than before and it's a nice chance to try and highlight some of the minor characters. The story idea is reasonable, if a little unusual in scifi tone for B5 (befitting Trek more) and it lacks some of the regular B5 heavyweight actors (G'Kar and Londo are sadly missing and Delenn has few scenes).

Nevertheless, an enjoyable if a little vacuous compared to what one comes to expect from B5. The aural and visual experiences are good, the actors are solid and the story good enough to standalone. Not perfect, but still a good slice of pulp scifi action.